Marking eight decades of independence and 150 years of Vande Mataram, New Delhi rejects Western moralism and post-colonial hesitation to lead as the preeminent superpower of the Global South
As India approaches its 80th Independence Day in 2027, we are reminded that August 15 is more than just a date. It is a reminder of a long and complicated battle, against the colonial rule for the freedom of the world’s largest democracy.
India’s road to independence wasn’t simple
but it was full of passion. For almost two centuries, colonial rule shaped the
country’s political, economic and social life. India lost its cultural roots
and started wearing a colonial lens to view itself with. But, resistance
emerged in different forms, from the Revolt of 1857 to the mass movements led
by figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,
Subhas Chandra Bose and countless others who couldn’t be named in the history
books. The Non-Cooperation Movement, the Civil Disobedience Movement and the
Quit India Movement did not just demand freedom but mobilized the struggle into
a national one, it instilled the desire of a free country in the minds of the
masses.
When independence finally did arrive on August 15, 1947, it arrived with an ugly fate: The trauma of the Partition. The creation of India and Pakistan triggered one of the largest migrations in modern history, as millions were displaced and communities experienced unimaginable violence and loss, which cannot even be accounted for due to loss of records and people.
But with heavy hearts, the celebrations of
independence began, carrying both, a new hope and an old grief.
The decades that followed were marked by
the enormous task of nation-building. What our ancestors inherited along with
freedom was a broken nation with no constitution, a unimaginable diversity to
cater to.
But we rose to the occasion, we built institutions,
expanded education, developed industries and agriculture, and gradually
strengthened its democratic foundations despite enormous challenges, forming
one of the largest and most diverse democracies in the world.
At 80, India’s Independence Day is
therefore both a celebration and an opportunity for reflection on what we are
and what we can become in the future. But above all, It invites us to remember
those who fought for freedom and honour their sacrifice, acknowledge the
complexities of the journey since 1947, and imagine what the next chapter
should look like.